Why the Future of Prosperity Begins with How We Define a “Life Well Lived” For decades, society has measured success with blunt instruments. GDP.Asset values.Productivity metrics. Yet none of these tell us whether people are well, whether communities are coherent, or whether our systems are helping human potential unfold—or quietly exhausting it. A growing global … Continue reading From Personal Significance to Collective Well-being
Tag: politics
Litigation Funding, Access to Justice, and the Risk of a False Binary
Why “David vs Goliath” Framing Is Not Enough By Steve ConleyAcademy of Life Planning When governments speak about access to justice, they often reach for a familiar story. David versus Goliath.Ordinary people versus powerful institutions.The little person finally getting their day in court. The government’s decision to reverse the impact of the PACCAR judgment has … Continue reading Litigation Funding, Access to Justice, and the Risk of a False Binary
Human Capital, Finology, and the Human-to-Human Economy
Extending the Vision of Financial Planning 3.0 “AI won’t replace planners. But planners who embrace AI — and truly understand human beings — will replace those who don’t.” Partha Iyengar recently left a comment on LinkedIn that stopped me in my tracks. He celebrated Human Capital and Human-to-Human Connections as the real drivers of progress … Continue reading Human Capital, Finology, and the Human-to-Human Economy
The Green Dividend: Why Human Capital Is the New Renewable
“The energy of the future is not stored in batteries or barrels—it’s stored in people.” As the world races toward a green energy future, most conversations still orbit around technology: solar panels, wind turbines, hydrogen, and storage systems. Yet, according to a 2024 study published in Academia Green Energy, the true catalyst of the energy … Continue reading The Green Dividend: Why Human Capital Is the New Renewable
Human Capital: The Forgotten Foundation of Total Wealth – Part 2
“A society that invests in machines but neglects its people is not advancing—it is automating its own inequality.” For decades, financial planners and policymakers alike have placed their faith in education as the great equaliser. Build skills, gain qualifications, increase productivity—and wealth will follow.Yet new research reveals a disturbing paradox: in advanced economies, human capital … Continue reading Human Capital: The Forgotten Foundation of Total Wealth – Part 2
⚠️ Hidden Downgrade: When Banks Reclassify Your Home to Seize It Cheaply
⚠️ The Hidden Downgrade: How Banks Reclassify Your Home to Seize It Cheaply For nearly two decades, a quiet sleight of hand has been used across Britain’s mortgage and securitisation system — a tactic that converts good-quality, low-risk, residential loans into buy-to-let “junk” assets ripe for exploitation. We’ve identified and documented this pattern repeatedly through … Continue reading ⚠️ Hidden Downgrade: When Banks Reclassify Your Home to Seize It Cheaply
Good People, Legacy Structures
Why Financial Education Needs Trustworthiness by Design Steve ConleyDecember 13, 2025 A note on intent I’m writing this as a financial educator and concerned citizen.This article is not about blame — individual or institutional.It’s about design: how well-intentioned initiatives can sometimes produce outcomes no one intended, simply because of the structures they operate within. A … Continue reading Good People, Legacy Structures
From the Age of Exploitation to the Age of Empowerment
By Steve Conley, Founder – Academy of Life Planning For two thousand years, humanity has lived under the long shadow of the Age of Pisces — the age of empire, conquest, and control. It began with the Romans and spread across continents through systems of colonisation that divided spirit from matter, body from soul, and … Continue reading From the Age of Exploitation to the Age of Empowerment
The Exploiters’ Playbook
How UK borrowers’ payments are routed through a web of orphan companies in London and offshore SPVs — tax-written to minimise leakage and shield investors from insolvency, while borrowers are kept in the dark Banks tell customers: “We’re still your lender.” Behind the scenes the credit has already been sliced, shipped and securitised. The industry … Continue reading The Exploiters’ Playbook
Britain’s Hidden Blast Radius: How Millions Are Trapped in Structurally Untrustworthy Debt — and What We Can Do About It
When the Post Office Horizon scandal shocked the nation, people asked, “How could this happen for so long?”The harder question is: how many other systems are quietly doing the same thing—every single day? The uncomfortable truth is that a far larger structural failure exists at the heart of Britain’s financial system.It doesn’t make the evening … Continue reading Britain’s Hidden Blast Radius: How Millions Are Trapped in Structurally Untrustworthy Debt — and What We Can Do About It
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